San Fran Chaos
by princessofwarriors
Summary: What happens when Harry Potter escapes to a Black family relative in San Francisco Bay. He meets Jade Chan and Presley Carnovan of course. Lets find out what happens next shall we.
1. Threads

This story is about three separate story threads coming together. I welcome plot ideas and if your idea is used will give you credit at the beginning of the chapter.

His hands were clammy and sweaty and his flabby face was beading with sweat. He told the concerned brunette Stewardess when she stopped by his aisle row seat to inquire if he was all right that he was just nervous about the upcoming flight to San Francisco International airport because it was his first time flying. He was only partly lying to her. The first time he could remember flying was when he was eleven on a broomstick. Yes on a broomstick, passenger on a flying motorcycle as a baby and on a hippogriff when he was thirteen; but the stewardess didn't need to know that he was a wand waving, broomstick riding, potion brewing student wizard. The point was that he really wasn't nervous about the flying. He was only sort of worried about the airline and customs people discovering that he actually wasn't his cousin, who he had Polyjuiced as and that he had doctored the passport by changing the picture and confounding the personal information so that no one would notice any discrepancies between his appearance and what the card said his cousin looked like. He had applied layers of misdirection and backup plans just in case because this was a one shot deal and he and Sirius refused to fail. It was too important. He was mostly nervous because he was leaving and planning never to return to Britain. He was mostly worrying about the rather unlikely event of some nebulous magic authority figure coming and stopping him from leaving. He wasn't exactly sure who or even sure how but yeah still very nervous.

Nobody who saw him would recognize him because of a few hairs from Dudley's' hair brush and a vial of Polyjuice potion that Sirius had made; the snake sticker hidden on his shirt tag had a set of glamor charms attached just in case the Polyjuice failed them. It was amazing how long Polyjuice potion could last and how easy it was to store. He had packed several extra vials into his trunk to take along. He had a bottomless bag with an extra wide mouth that contained his trunk and a bunch of canned goods with a can-opener in a plastic baggy. Thank heavens the magic of the bag fuzzed the airport scanners to the point that they couldn't detect metal! His Dog-fathers plan was in motion. Thank Heavens for Uncle Vernon's yearly Drill conference. His relatives for once had been glad to help out.

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She had a pile of very dusty old books piled around her at the front desk of 'Uncles Rare Antiques Shop,' a tiny place just outside of Chinatown. Shoulder length inky-black hair pulled up and back into a high-ponytail with long side bangs framing almond shaped and colored eyes. Jade Chan was a very pretty thirteen and three-quarters year old teen. More important than her looks was the dangerous fact that she was deathly bored. Hence the dusty books all around her. Jackie was in Egypt, Viper was with him either casing or advising the museum down there; it depended on who you asked. El Toro was running a wrestling camp for disadvantaged children and Paco was with him. Uncle was away at a series of lectures and meetings spread across Asia and the Middle East and Tohru was following his Sensei like a good traditional Apprentice should.

O.K so technically she wasn't Uncles apprentice and she probably shouldn't even be reading these spell books but technicalities had never really fazed her before now had they? Geeze get possessed, duplicated and a few other magical setbacks and they get all… cranky about it. It wasn't like she had promised not to read the chi-books; just not to cast the spells in them. Besides no one was around to reverse any mistakes she made; Hello! Not a dummy here. It was just… research. Interesting research but still and so what if she wasn't technically Uncles apprentice you didn't have to be an apprentice to learn things, right? Right! Plus someone had to watch the shop and Captain Black was watching her so she couldn't head to Egypt, which meant she needed something to do!

Jade pushed her bangs out of her face and scrawled a note down in her Marvin Moose notebook. She really did love her Uncles and her parents but it still three years latter bothered her how she came to live in America. She had only felt mildly depressed that her parents would be willing to send her halfway across the world at the drop of a hat, to live with a pair of relatives that she had never met at the time and judging by the way Uncle and Jackie had acted when she first arrived Jackie hadn't even known she existed let alone was coming. Jade sighed and scrawled down the properties of lotus blossoms in her notebook. Her parents spent next to no time with her when she visited Hong Kong and she had rarely seen either of them much when she was younger. It hadn't been her fault she was being bullied at school. Maybe if someone had stood up for her, she wouldn't have been on her own about what to do and broken that stupid boy's nose trying to make him let go of her backpack. In fact, Jackie had treated her more like she was his daughter than her own father had, and Viper treated her more like a daughter than her own mother ever had. It certainly hadn't been her mother she had called when she had her first 'that time of the month' no way! She was a lot better off here.

Since her parents had given Jackie guardianship of her and she had gained joint American Chinese citizenship this summer she had hoped she would learn some cool new things and do some one on one bonding with him. Unfortunately for her Jackie was very busy lately and couldn't teach her anything now, which really wasn't his fault, he tried really hard and always called everyday but practicing what she already knew got a little boring. That left magic. Uncle had been willing to pass her over as a Chi user in favor of Tohru despite the fact that the man had tried to nearly _**kill**_ both herself and Jackie multiple times! Don't get her wrong, she adored Tohru _now_, but Uncle needing an apprentice had happened only a few months after Tohru had come to live with them. Uncle still wouldn't teach her anything even now that she was older and it sucked demon chi big time.

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The Sphinx of San Francisco; it had been built nearly four years ago as part of the ever changing Egyptian exhibit, and had become a minor tourist attraction since. It was made of sandstone in the shape of a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head. It stood more than three times smaller than the actual Sphinx in Giza, Egypt, and was only partially accessible to the public. Children seemed to be especially fond of it. The upper floors were completely sealed off and not even the original builders would have been able to open the doors leading up into the upper-spaces anymore without doing costly damages to the surrounding walls because somehow all of the staircases seemed to have been built over. Even though nobody seemed to know how that had happened. That said; nobody really seemed to question it or minded the attic being inaccessible since it was only empty storage space.

Presley was vaguely wishing that he was normal and that the upper floor of the Sphinx really was a non-accessible attic right now as he carefully worked on creating the hieroglyphics for a magical warding scheme against pests. Presley's shoulders drooped a little more as he smudged his work with his hand, '_Man, its summer there's supposed to be no school," _he moaned to himself as he washed the ink off with a damp cloth. Silently of course, knowing his scholarly protector would only double his work load if he complained as Rath presided over a stone desk with a stack of tomes and scrolls spread around him. The constantly quarrelling serpent and ox guardians had begun yet another round of their 'Brawn vs. Brains' battle as soon as he had walked into the Sphinx at ten this morning after having spent the early morning lugging boxes around for his mother at the new exhibit in the downtown museum. Rath had won until two and then Armon got to watch him while he practiced his Egyp-tsu against the animated dummies. As soon as they had worked that out Rath had given an attention seeking cough. "Ahem! My prince, since you are free this week, mostly anyway, I believe we can use that time to catch up on your studies on the mystic arts, yes?" he stated more than asked, a roll of frayed parchment tapping into his free hand and his green eyes glowing at the prospect of teaching. He loved knowledge; it was his ultimate passion next to serving the Pharaoh.

Presley sighed and took out another piece of paper to start over on the warding hieroglyphics. Elaine Sutter was in Europe with her parents and she wouldn't be back until the day before school started. She was sending him about three postcards with teeny tiny writing and a long letter with pictures a week. It looked like she was having an awesome time. Walter (and his sister) had gone to visit extended family in China. Walter was going to be gone only a week les then Elaine. Walter had only sent 3 post cards in the almost month he had been in china, and they mainly mentioned video games and the different kinds of food he was trying. He wasn't interested in hearing from Cynthia anymore. It had taken some time, but Presley had finally managed to see the lost cause that was Walter's older sister, to finally see that the girl was shallow, and had a short enough attention span (or large enough mean streak)that she couldn't seem to remember his name after years of knowing him.

He was supposed to have gone to Memphis to spend all three months of summer vacation with his father. Then his dad had bailed on him. Again. Mom had planned to devote her entire summer to a new exhibit in a nearby museum since he was going to be gone and had already made her commitments. Unlike his dad his mom always tried to keep her commitments. That meant that she couldn't spend as much as time as she wanted to spend keeping an eye on him. His mom and he had devised a call schedule and he had a cellphone so she wouldn't worry about him when he wasn't with her at either of the museums she was working at. He was spending almost eight hours per day learning from his mummy protectors when he just couldn't take any more of the overly pompous museum people. Most of them couldn't even decipher some of the basic hieroglyphics. Rath had made sure he could both read and write hieroglyphics with ease and that was just the tip of what he had learned over the four years since the mummies had come into his life.

"Deep in thought my Prince?' Rath said with humor in his voice and a smirk from his place near one of several bookshelves of ancient scrolls and tomes he procured from various sources. He had been adding to it over the years with the museums copy machines help and now he had enough written knowledge on sorcery, history, astrology, myths and legends, math, and modern science to fill a school library. All of which Rath was passing on to him as fast as possible to him.

"Just a bit of the summer blahs Rath," Presley told him. Rath gave him a sympathetic glance and looked back at his books again while Presley one again smudged the stupid page.


	2. First Strand

Chapter Two

It wasn't hard getting through customs at the San Francisco Airport. SFO was one of the world's 30 busiest airports after all and 'Dudley Dursleys' paperwork was in order. It was disgustingly easy to ditch his Uncle Vernons' charming company. He told him he needed to use the lavatory and uncle Vernon had given him a nasty look with his piggy eyes trying to pin him like a bug to the floor and then he had said; "this is the last I ever want to see of you Boy, is that understood?

Harry had just nodded back, "Well, Uncle, thank you for helping me."

"Anything to get rid of you, boy." Vernon grunted and stomped off fingering what he called his anti-freak pin.

Harry walked into the men's room and that was the end of it. He exchanged some money once the potion wore off and caught a taxi to nearby hotel. He waited in the hotel lobby until he saw the cab pick-up another fare and then he signaled a new cab. He had this cabbie take him to the San Francisco Aquarium at Pier 39. He had never been to the Aquarium and the hotel lobby had a brochure for it. He could look at his city map he had picked up at the airport and maybe figure out how to send a letter to Sirius while there. Thinking about the letter he'd send to Sirius had him thinking about the package he'd received from his godfather not too long after arriving at the Dursleys.

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_Hey Kid,_

_If all goes to according to plan (codename: Safe Haven) I should have a way to spring you from those nasty Muggles soon. I plan to meet with you at the new marauder palace by the end of the summer but to get you started on what I want to talk to you should read the book I've sent with this letter. You said something at Christmas last year that made me start thinking about things that everyone knows' (everyone but you evidently.) So I dug out my old primer from way back when. Nearly every Wizarding kid learns to read from this book, so humor me and give it a read. It's like a password to how most Wizards think. We can talk about it when I see you. I have something special for you for your birthday.__ Cheerio and Toddle pip old chap. Love __Padfoot_

Tucked inside the Wizard primer were several notes, a package of stickers that had been spelled and labeled along with several numbered letters. In the first note (under B is for Broom) it explained that the letter was actually the plan disguised with a password. The password was safe haven and in the newly revealed letter Sirius explained about the Daily Prophet bashing him. What the Order of the Phoenix was and that they were guarding some sort of weapon. Sirius had told him that if the British Supreme Mugwump couldn't get him a trial in Britain with three witnesses and some truth serum then something was rotten in the British Magical World. He had asked if he was willing to leave. Leave Britain. To go someplace that would at least give a man a trial before condemning him. After all, Sirius joked in the letter 'believe it or not, it's rather hard to find a job and a bird when everyone outside of this house believes one is the next Dark Lord or a murderer, and while I'm not so worried about earning a living it's hard on a bloke to have girls run screaming when they see you.' All the country had to agree to do was listen to his, Harrys, testimony and then getting them to extradite and grant citizenship to an innocent man should be easy . According to what Sirius could remember from before Azkaban his Uncle Alphard Black had moved permanently out of Britain to America after being disowned for financially supporting one Sirius Black after he left home at sixteen to live with the Potter family. Sirius also told him he was sending him something in the Muggle post.

In the second note that he found in the ABC section it told him to get out a piece of parchment and then place his wand flat on it. Then the third note that he found under H for Hippogriff told him to call his key and when he did the key just…emerged from the parchment like it was rising out of parchment colored water. Placing the key on the top of the parchment, any plain parchment would do according to the note; he put his finger on the key and said his full name and the word balance it brought up his account information. His mind reeled. He was loaded with several vaults and no one had ever mentioned it. He could have been wearing new clothes was all he could think when he saw it. At least some new trainers or underwear that no one else had sweated in.

Sirius had sent him the two-way mirror he and his dad had used in detention as kids by muggle post with a letter explaining that Harry's mother taught him how to use the post. Harry was pissed. Not with his Dog-father but everyone else were on his feed dragon dung to list. I'm just a fifteen-year-old with a 'swelled head'," he though sarcastically, looking at all of the one line letters from his friend, "I don't heed curfew, don't complete my homework, don't comply with rules, and just generally don't give a damn about anyone but myself apparently. Can't trust me, nope you can't. Never mind saving the school and several actual life's from the Dark Man-who- should- be-mold. Dumbledore and the rest of the adults he knew had kept information from him and left him in Dursley-ban for the last time. As for Hermione and Ron… to paraphrase Dobby in second year are friends who don't write even friends anymore? It's not that he hated them or anything like that; he just felt like they didn't care enough to try to find a way to keep him as a friend. Hermione was muggle raised and could use both a phone and the post office just fine. He hadn't wanted secrets just some basic updates on what the grownups were doing about _him_ that's all. Ron kept going on about the Cannons of all things and complaining about housework.

When he had called Sirius the first words out of his mouth were "I'll do it Sirius. Just tell me how." He looked at the room behind Sirius; he had no idea where Sirius was but it was ...gross. It was a bedroom obviously, but the furniture was tattered, a thick layer of dust covered most everything, and the mattress Sirius was sitting on looked like it was losing its springs. He could see a large shadowy shape moving in the background; Buckbeak obviously. At least it was in a house.

"Excellent! See Harry, I'm your legal guardian as your godfather and since the government never gave me a trial, I never stopped being your guardian. When your parents died their wills were automatically enacted, that's what is so cool with magical wills, and your guardianship transferred to me instantly. I can legally transfer your guardianship to someone else, my uncle Alphard Black for instance, with the condition that once I am absolved of suspicion custody reverts back to me.

As the silence started to stretch from Harry, Sirius decided to break it. With a more subdued tone of voice he told him, "I'm sorry that I wasn't there for you for so long kiddo. Azkaban saw to that. I've felt guilty that I couldn't get you away from those horrid Muggles since the night Pettigrew escaped. One of my repeating nightmares in Azkaban was that you wouldn't accept me as your godfather. When you did, I felt years younger. I used to pretend you were living with me and all the things I could be teaching you. So I wouldn't go crazy from loneliness you know. Can't do magic there, no wand so I didn't think I could escape. After a while I just lived in my dreamland. Wasn't awful like the other inmates who were trapped in their worst memories but wasn't really sane either. I lost track of reality till the Minister showed me the newspaper of the Weasleys on holiday. You were in danger and after that you pretty much know what's been happening with me in general up to this summer. I…"

"Sirius, are you even sure your Uncle Alphards going to want to be my guardian even for a little while?

"Well…actually no because Uncle Alphard passed away when you were nine but his son is in San Francisco still and he owes me a favor. Nobody except me knew Uncle Alphard had a son because Augustus' mum was an American squib and so is he. He doesn't know about magic really, he was told Uncle Alphard was from a mop family."

"I think you mean a mob family and if he doesn't know about magic how are we supposed to get help from him to free you?"

"Uncle Alphard said he was in the government fighting against crime. What the Dursleys are doing to you is a crime. Don't you dare think I haven't notice you flinch when their mentioned or how ragged and old your clothes are. I saw you in third year be chased out of that so called _home_," Sirius spat the word like an oath." Sirius stood and went out of the mirror frame for a moment. "Your parents," he said as he sat once more on the bed, "were extraordinary people." He opened what looked like a muggle shoebox and took out a photograph. It showed his parents, Sirius and a man with reddish brown hair and brown eyes with a trio of older adults. "That's my Uncle Alphard and your grandparents Charlus and Dorea. Dorea was my aunt; James and I were cousins as well as best friends you see. Augustus was Alphards' only child and I only met him once in person because he didn't want the rest of the family to know about him but we were pen-pals most of my teenage years, third year and on. He will take care of you if I send you to him. Your parents wouldn't have wanted you with people who hurt you and Augustus won't ever hurt you," he said with a conviction that hit deep, somewhere in Harry's chest.

Staring hard at the haggard face in the mirror, Harry felt something clench inside his guts, "You're keeping something back from me aren't you. You're doing what they do. Information is always being kept from me. I didn't think you would ever do that. Why now and not before this Sirius, what has changed?"

Sirius sucked in a breath and then blew it out again hard, "I need to protect you and I don't think that's what your Headmaster has in mind anymore. It would have made a lot more sense for your parents to inhabit one of the older Potter mansions, since they, as an Old Family, would have wards and enchantments on them that Voldemort could have never hoped to break. As for that whole Secret Keeper thing; really the man's supposed to be the most powerful, and brilliant wizard in Britain a loyalty oath to the group should have been his priority. He could have at least peeped into peoples' minds to see who the traitor was; I know he did it at school and everyone knew there was a traitor among us. I will never forget the day James came to me confided that there was some sort of a prophecy to me. That bloody prophecy is what led to the death of two of my best friends as far as I'm concerned. Lily was my friend in a different way but she was still family to me. Your Dad never believed in divination and he decided he would do everything to make sure that the adults took care of the problem, not a child. The adults shouldn't have to be rescued by the children was how he put it. I think that's why security was lax enough for Peter to betray them. Dumbledore seems to believe in this prophecy and while I don't think he outright caused their death I know he could have done better. Dumbledore doesn't know I know about the prophecy pup, he is sending guards to watch the hall of prophecy and guards to watch you. Which means…?"

Harry was no ordinary child. Scowling, he realized that the Headmaster wouldn't want to burden _a child_ with the truth, instead was letting him live in so called ignorant bliss until one day he would be attacked and murdered. "The Hall of Prophecy means I'm probably '_destined_' to duel Voldemort, according to some vague sort of rhyme that's what it means; yet Dumbledore hasn't even taught me to duel properly. Voldemort must know there's something prophesized or is still smarting from not killing me as a baby so he is just going to continue attacking me. Dumbledore either has a plan, wants me dead, or a combination of the two."

"That was my thought pup. Dumbledore's had eleven years more than I have to figure all this out and nip Voldemort's support in the bud, what has he been doing? Waiting for you to grow up and do the magical worlds job for them? I'm not trading your life and happiness for the sheep-people of Magical Britain. The rest of the order probably thinks I'm crazy and they would have been right if not for two very decisive factors," Sirius expression got downright wolfish when he was being devious, Harry decided with a matching smile. "I'm Lord of the Black family and an Animagus. The Black heir, the future Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black is given extra protection when born. It's a spell cast by some many-times great-grandfather of mine on the bloodline of Black. Back when the Head of the Family and heir to the title of Lord Black had to fear attempts on his life from every direction. There are several protections and the first one is that the heir can't be disowned and when my Grandfather died shortly after I was incarcerated I was automatically Lord Black. Dumbledore and most of the population believes my mother disinherited me but she couldn't. Most importantly for our situation the heir is given a mental shield, much like an Occlumency shield, but instead of just a wall between whoever is trying to get into my mind I also have the ability of putting fake memories in front of that wall so the intruder won't realize they are being blocked. The shield also stays up regardless of the heir's current state or awareness, which doesn't happen with Occlumency; people have to keep the shield up there selves with occlumency. Dumbledore doesn't know about my shields, nobody without Black blood is told and anybody told can't tell the secrets without magical permission from the Lord Black and I'm not talking. I act all moody and un-predictable with everyone except Moony and talk about you constantly." Sirius let out a low chuckle that kind of sounded like a dogs bark to Harry; "Once they figure out you are decidedly not at Privet Drive I am going to have a lot of fun by throwing a major fit and acting like I have no idea where you are. I expect it to take a couple of weeks for them to figure out since Moody is still on restricted activity and everyone else will probably just think you're inside sulking."

"How do we keep the Dursleys from blabbing?"

"Simple, really, a combination of the carrot and the stick method, if they don't go blabbing as you put it to the order we don't threaten them and if they go so far as to help out they each get a notice-me-not pendent that prevents anyone with a magical core from noticing them."

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"No trial?" Vernon Dursley asked/shouted in outrage. "Your lot aren't just freaks their barbarians too! How many publicly contested convictions must they face until they understand trials must be held for everyone who pleads innocent to whatever they're charged with? We're British for the love…I have no problem against hanging maniacs who have been properly tried and convicted but letting an accused man rot in prison without a trial? I'll help you put one in the eye of your sorts' government I will."

For the first time in his life, Harry Potter felt happy to have the overly opinionated Vernon Dursley for an Uncle. Sure, Uncle Vernon was just interested in having someone to take him away but at least there was a hope for this plan of Sirius'. "Vernon, are you really getting involved in the boy's freaky business?" Petunia angrily asked.

"It'll be worth it when the boys gone," Vernon grunted in reply. "After he steps off the plane in America we can pretend magic isn't real like we did before the old meddling coot left the boy with us. Plus we get that anti-freak spell if we help him."

"What about the house though," Petunia fretted.

"There is an opening in the company coming up; Grunnings' will relocate the family that takes the position. Think about it Pet, no one will know about the boy, Dudley can still go to Smelting's. Boy head to your room the less we know about the others plans the less the rest of the weirdo's can get out of us if they catch on to us. Come on Pet, we could get a bigger house, in one of those enclosed neighborhoods."

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Harry wished he could just use the mirror but the distance between San Francisco and London was just too great for it to work. So he had bought a bunch of postcards before he had gotten on the flight out of Britain. Taking one of Buckingham Palace he addressed it to Grimauld Place number six. Sirius had a spell on their mailbox to redirect anything written by Harry to a box under Buckbeaks' bed.

_Dear Uncle Paddy,_

_See you at the appropriate Time on Tuesday. _

_Love from your nephew _

_Oliver Jamieson _

It was written in code of course and once Sirius had read it he would burn it. Appropriate stood for no trouble from the Dursleys, Petunia and Dudley got their anti-magic noticing charm. Love meant he didn't think anybody had caught on while Tuesday meant no contact made yet. Now he could just relax and enjoy his first time at an Aquarium; he hoped nothing would talk to him this time.


	3. Second Strand

Jade Chan was doing something she wasn't supposed to be doing but at least she was doing it fairly well. She was going to dye her hair. Well, some of it anyway. Jade was wrapped in an old terry cloth bath robe that had been left by Tohru's mother on her last visit. Jade coated her forehead and ears with a layer of Vaseline and since she was only dying a portion of her hair, she coated the parts of her hair that she didn't want to get dyed with the stuff as well. Just like Simone Magus,' Aunt had talked about doing at cosmetology school. She carefully dipped the tip of her applicator brush into the rescued cap of the empty laundry detergent bottle that had been thrown out. She spread the paste evenly on her long side bangs that she wanted to bleach, being careful not to go above the invisible line halfway up her bangs that she didn't want to cross. She had filled the cap a quarter full of hair bleach powder and had then added hair peroxide 40 to the halfway line. A pack of hair bleach and a bottle of peroxide cost about $3 at the corner drugstore a couple of blocks away and she'd been able to slip away from her section thirteen escort to and from Uncles Antique Shop with the excuse that she needed to buy 'girl stuff ya' know', and snag the kit, a pair of gloves and an Orange fizzy soda pretty easily. She even picked up some of the girl stuff her escort probably thought she meant.

As she finished spreading the paste on her bangs she started to mutter to herself, "Ok Jade when your hair starts to turn orange, do not freak out like most people do and wash the bleach out. Leave it in at least thirty minutes, and it will continue to bleach our dark hair until it is a lovely platinum-blond. Then we can dye it something cool." Jade carefully stripped the gloves off of her hands and started wrapping her bangs in plastic wrap. Then she decided might as well deep moisturize at the same time and kill two birds with one stone so she ripped the gloves off and put the rest of hair up in a messy bun and started wrapping the rest of her head with plastic wrap.

"Jade, are you in there? It's Captain Black." Jades hand jerked as she finished wrapping her hair in plastic.

Crud! "Uh yeah, I was just getting ready to take a shower Captain, what'cha need?" Gloves, cap, applicator brush all stuffed into the box with the left over bleach powder and peroxide bottle. Don't panic, he can't see thru the wall and catch you, be cool.

"Right, well Jackie's on the phone from Cairo, he's about to head back out to the dig site for the week so we only have him on the phone for a few minutes," Captain Black's low voice came thru the door.

"Geeze, it's like five am there right now, gimme just a second and I'll be right out," Jade shouted the last bit as she wrapped her plastic wrapped head in a towel. She took a minute to scrub the Vaseline off her fore head and ears then threw open the door, and nearly knocked Captain Black over in the process.

"Yeah that was her… No Jackie, neither of us have changed into anything, we haven't used magic at all… I remember exactly what your Uncle said just fine better then you probably, he didn't threaten you with his blowfish of doom. Goodbye Jackie… See you soon too. Here you go Jade."

"Hi Jackie," Jade chirped into Captain Blacks chunky (semi-secured line) company cellphone.

"Jade! I am glad to hear from you. How are you doing? Are you behaving for Cap'tain Black?" Jackie's warm tenor voice with its familiar oriental accent always made Jade feel happier; even when his voice was asking dumb questions; like now.

"Duh Jackie, of course I'm behaving I promised to behave and not come to Egypt because of all the bad stuff going on over there. Don't you remember?"

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"Oh come on, I've been in much more dangerous situations, Jackie! You gotta let me come with!" Jade had pleaded with her uncles as Tohru packed Uncles luggage for the trip.

"No, Jade, there have been threats made against foreigners at the dig site, you will be staying here in San Francisco at Section 13 while we are away. Cap'tain Black has agreed to look after you." Jackie told her as he meticulously folded his clothes into his battered suitcase. Then he fixed Jade with his 'I am being serious and this is important look' and said, "I want you to promise to behave for him."

Jade put her hands on her hips, "He doesn't know anything about looking after a kid." Jackie shot her another look and Jade capitulated in a huff, "Ok fine, I promise to at least try to behave."

"He is strict." Uncle said approvingly. "You will not pull wool over his eyes so easily. Tohru pack magic ingredients in carry on not with clothes! I will phone Captain Black. While we are gone you can stay here and watch the shop during the day, it will be good for your character," Uncle instructed.

Jade had begged but Uncle and Jackie were firm and that was that. Jade was to stay at home, well, she'd make Section 13 her temporary home anyway- again. Plus Jackie extracted another very comprehensive promise about not coming to Egypt not going to Asia and not leaving San Francisco unless accompanied by an appropriate adult. Uncle had made both Captain Black and her swear not to do any magic, under threat of blowfish.

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Jade sat down on the floor and sighed, "I've been trying to keep busy but it's kinda been hard. I watch the store from eight to five and I've only had like three customers. I've dusted the entire shop which you know is like huge Jackie and I washed the windows, all of the wall I could reach and all the doors. Mickey, the Captain and I have been sparring in the evening but it's not the same as with you."

"It sounds like you have been busy Jade."

"Yeah but boring busy really doesn't count Jackie."

"At least you are not in danger like you were last year with the Oni masks, running around the plant. Boring can be a very good thing Jade. Hey stop that you thief!" There was a scuffling sound on the other end of the phone.

"Ignore him Jade. Safe doesn't have to mean boring," Vipers sultry voice took over, "and really Jackie I'm a security consultant, I'm not a thief, I'm just borrowing your phone for a minute I'll give it back."

"Taking without asking_ is_ stealing."

"I prefer to think of it of borrowing without asking but whatever you say tiger."

Jade decided to interrupt. Whenever they got on this subject the banter could go on for hours. "Hey Viper, How's the museum in Cairo."

"Hot, dusty, and in desperate need of both my help and a kosher restaurant in the vicinity. The bazaar near our hotel is lovely though. I've picked you up several trinkets already: a pair of jade hoop erring's with the Chinese zodiac symbols carved around the edge…"

"But she does not have pierced ears!" Jackie's voice wailed vehemently in the background.

"Which is criminal but beside the point," Viper shot back.

"Then what is the point," Jackie huffed.

"They're gorgeous, that's the point. Anyway, I also got you a filigreed bottle of almond milk body lotion. It was practically a steal at the price I got it at," Viper quipped. "Then I got Paco this really nice sacred bull antique figurine made out of sandstone."

"How are you going to get cool stuff like that thru customs?" Jade asked as she leaned over and checked the time shown on the wall clock down the hall then resettled her towel turban.

"Bribery and sending it by special currier," Viper said in a very matter of fact way, then she continued in a more exasperated tone, "Jackie your days hardly began it can't possibly be bad already."

"Bribery _is_ bad, Viper." Jackie voice comes thru the phone and Jade is amused to hear how exasperated he sounds.

"It depends on the culture. Some cultures tip, others bribe is there really any difference?" Vipers reply is delivered in the overly reasonable tone she mostly uses on Jackie when she is teasing him. Jade grins; Jackie is so much fun to tease, he is so literal minded sometimes.

"Yes! No but… I give up. Phone. Now."

"Alright, alright touchy much. Ciaos Jade, I'm taking pictures of everything for you." There was the fumbling sort of noise in the background as the phone is being transferred, and then Jackie's voice came thru again.

"Jade I have to go soon but I want to tell you that I am proud of how well you are behaving. Do not tell Viper but I got you a pair of erring's too. When I get back we can go to the mall and get them pierce for your birthday. You will be fourteen and fourteen is old enough for erring's."

"Really, pierced ear erring's? That's so cool Jackie; I thought you'd get me a book or something like a book not that I would mind a book but still. I won't be the only eighth grader without erring's anymore. That's so cool." Jade enthused, bouncing in place on the floor as she talked. "How'd you get Uncle and my parents to let you get my ears pierced."

Jackie sputtered a bit, "ta-ch Jade I am your guardian now and … alright. I bought you protection rune erring's and Uncle agreed because they were 'good magic'. I showed your parents your report card," he admitted a little sheepishly after a pause. "And I did get you a book also. I wrote it for you and it teaches basic hieroglyphics, so that maybe in a few years you can come with me. I love you Jade. I will call you tomorrow. Bye Jade."

"Bye Jackie," Jade said as the phone call ended.

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Jade sighed as she handed the phone back to one of the agents running around outside the apartment's door. Phone calls were just not enough. Oh well at least she would have awesome hair when Viper and Jackie came back in a month. Jackie might freak a little but Viper would talk him down she was sure. Tohru had said that many of the young apprentices that he had been seeing at the Tokyo Chi Convention had 'bright' hair colors and that Uncle just ignored it so maybe he would ignore the color in her hair too. It was worth hoping.

Jade carefully undid the wraps around her head. First the towel, then the plastic wrap around her head, and then the plastic wrap around her bleaching bangs. Her bangs were a bright brassy sort of orange still. Maybe it would lighten some more once the bleach was washed out? Extra soap would probably help. Jade scrubbed and scrubbed but even though all of the dye and vasaline came out after three washes her bangs stayed stubbornly ORANGE. Not that she hated orange or anything but it was supposed to be white blonde so she could dye it red, not orange. "Okay Jade, don't freak out yet we just need to check the directions. Maybe there's something we missed," she told herself. Jade grabbed the bleach kit out from under the sink and carefully read over the instructions again. Use gloves, combine equal amounts, apply evenly, wait thirty minutes. Ok, there! Very dark hair may require more than one application and a warning basically saying not to over bleach your hair or it can permanently damage it. Jade felt the ends of her bangs and then held the ends up to eye level. Her hair didn't feel dry and the ends weren't split. Maybe…

"Jade, are you in there? It's Captain Black." The captain's voice coming thru the door almost caused her to jump out of her skin and drop her bangs. "Are you hungry? I was planning on letting you pick where we get take out from."

"Umm I'm not hungry." Jade called, then muttered under her breath; "please oh please believe me and go away."

"Jade its past eight o clock at night and all you've had is a candy bar from the vending machine down in the lab since lunch, you have to be hungry. Unless you're doing something you're not supposed to be doing you won't mind opening this door. Now Jade."

"Um I'm not dressed," Jade tossed the box of hair dye under the sink into the back of the cabinet and was careful to do it as soundlessly as she could.

"You have one minute to get dressed and get out of that bathroom. I'm timing you, starting now Jade," Captain Black boomed thru the door. Crap, he was using his 'Commander' voice. Never mess with Captain Black when he uses_ that_ voice.

She looked around franticly and spotted her pants in one corner with her tank top and her socks balled up by the trash can along with her underthings. She grabbed both piles and sat down on the toilet to wiggle into them while her mind raced for a way to not be caught. Crap should have pretended to be sick but it was too late for that. She shimmied into her jeans and fastened them. She grabbed the towel and wrapped her hair up and hoped he wouldn't notice and figure it out.

No such luck; he tugged the towel off as soon as she stepped into the hall. "JADE! WHAT DID YOU DO!?" He stared at her brassy orange bangs in horror.

"I was tired of my hair color I wanted to brighten it up that's all," Jade defended, trying for an expression of innocence. Captain Black seemed to be distressingly immune to that look.

"What was wrong with your hair color?!"

Jade took a huge breath, "Tohru said lots of apprentices have 'bright hair,' at the convention you know; an Simones' Aunt was talking about how much fun having dyed hair was, I was super bored and dying my hair is a lot better than stowing away on airplanes to Egypt and I could cut it off if I wanted so its lots better than getting a tattoo not that I would ever get another tattoo after being Queen of the Shadow khan because that's just bad magic all around and I really wanted to do something cool with my hair because practically every Asian kid has black hair and …" she babbled.

"Whoa Nelly," Captain Black said a little desperately. "Wouldn't some kind of hair clippie been easier than dyeing it? What's your Uncle going to say when he sees it?"

"Um, he'll probably ask if I used magic or not.

"I was talking about Jackie's reaction actually"

"…so was I."

Captain Black just stared for another minute while Jade tried not to fidget, then he sighed. "We're going to have Pizza; I'm getting a beer and tomorrow, after you've worked in the shop because if the Shop is closed for even one day unscheduled Uncle somehow knows about it, I'll deal with it; after a good night's sleep and a little distance. At least you haven't hopped a plane, or spelled the coffeemaker to run away from people," he muttered as he flipped open his Phone and started dialing.

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She had argued but Captain Black had just snorted and tied a red bandanna over her hair and made her spend the morning at the shop despite her best arguments. Luckily it was just as slow at the shop as it usually was and only one person had come in. She had pretended to be dusting and the guy hadn't looked twice. Agent Smith (and she thought that was the lamest fake name ever) had picked her up and driven her back to headquarters and then escorted her straight to Captain Blacks ultra-utilitarian office and ushered her in. Captain Black looked up from his paper work with a frown as she closed the door behind her.

"Have a seat Jade." Jade plopped down onto the chair and tugged the bandanna off of her head. The Captain winced, "Alright Jade, here's what's going to happen. Since I can't get a hold of either of your Uncles I'm going to just deal with this as I see fit. You are grounded from your phone for a week and when I do get ahold of your Uncles they can decide whether or not to punish you further and decide what to do about your hair. In the meantime if you want to buy something, you now have to write it down and have someone purchase it for you since you went out and bought hair dye; which has been confiscated from your bathroom by housekeeping by the way." the Captain told her, tapping his pen against the desk in agitation.

"Can we wait till Jackie calls again to tell him about my hair?" Jade asked, wisely not mentioning that she didn't really have anyone to call anyway.

"Fine, but he is going to be told about this. Give me the phone. Mickeys volunteered to watch you and get you out of my hair for the rest of the day," Captain Black said as he took the slim cell phone and stowed it away in his desk drawers.

"…you don't have any hair." Luckily for Jade a sharp rat-a-tat-tat at the door stopped her from putting the rest of her foot in her mouth.

"Come in Agent Foy, and shut the door behind you," Captain Black called, keeping his eyes glaring at Jade as the agent entered.

Mickey Foy had red hair and was almost the tallest agent in Section 13 (Tohru and El Toro had him beat) at six foot five. A scar underneath his right eye distracted the eye from the mischievous glint in them and a fitted black suit with a black t-shirt underneath hid a heart as gold as the tiny crucifix he wore on a fine chin around his thick neck. He and Jade had started sparring when Jackie had first become a 'consultant' at Section 13. He'd been about a blue belt then now he was second degree black belt. Jade had to work at it but she still kicked his butt two out of three spars. He was her favorite sparring partner because he took his defeats with good humor. He was her favorite agent because he had taught her about guns; all of the ways to be safe when using them, how to take care of them and how to shoot. He had made her promise to never even touch a gun without him with her and Jade never _broke _a promise. They were friends because he treated her as a person first and a child second.

Captain Black looked back at Jade once more as Mickey ushered her out the door and shook his head in wonder. Kids. He started to re-read the report Agent Perk had left for him at the office.

"Wow…" was all Mickey said as the iron stairwell door shut behind them.

"Shut up! I know!"

"No, it's not that bad! It could look a lot worse. We'll just have to fix it…"

"How?" Jade wailed, grabbing her bangs and holding them up to eye level.

"Go to a hair salon. Let the professionals deal with it. You'll have a better chance at being allowed to keep your hair dyed if it's done well," Mickey ran a hand thru his thatch of wiry red hair and grinned down at her as they jogged up the stairs together to the outside doorway. "I'm no barber but I know all about not liking what your hairs doing. My mom used to make me keep my hair long when I was a kid and it was curlier back then so I looked like a demented poodle boy," he startled a laugh out of her. "Then when I was in collage I shaved my head. But my head looked like it was shaped funny and my eyebrows looked like flame colored caterpillars eating my face or something. I hope I never go bald because unlike Captain Black I can't pull that look off at all." Jade snickered some more as she followed him into the bland government issued black van.


	4. Third strand

This chapter is dedicated to Firehedgehog who has been a greatly appreciated reviewer; this chapter is dedicated to you.

Presley tugged his helmet on tighter and held onto his skateboard as the San Francisco _California Street_ line trolley-car trundled along its tracks. His shaggy bronze-brown hair was mostly contained in a stubby ponytail that just barely brushed the top of his backpack but a few strands in front blew around his face and were absently brushed aside. He was headed down to his mom's favorite oriental restaurant to pick up a meal for her. Presley watched over her carefully now that he was a little older and understood just how awesome she was. She was tired, but jazzed about the new exhibit that much was clear. She had been under a lot of stress at work lately and all he could really do to help was pitch in by fetching and carrying things like boxes at the museum and the occasional meal like he was doing now. As they passed the narrow houses built on San Francisco's hills, Presley remembered why he was going all the way to Chinatown to get her take out and grinned.

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He'd leaned against the door frame and watched her, stuck behind a desk with her shirtsleeves rolled up and her suit jacket hung on the back of her chair, still working at a quarter to seven with no break. "Did you even eat anything for lunch?"

She shook her head absently, "Not really, no time but I ate the granola bar you stuck in my bag. I got a ton of work done on Chan's' acquisitions from his Egyptian dig."

Presley's raised his dark eyebrows heavenwards. "You hung out with a guy?!" he cracked, pretending to be shocked.

Amanda looked up, an embarrassed flush darkening the coco skin crossing her cheekbones along with small smile. "That's not what…"

Her son grinned slyly. "Is he cute?"

"Presley!" his mother exclaimed, pretending to be shocked herself, "That's not the sort of question a mother has to answer for her son."

"You're avoiding answering. That means yes!" Presley did the 'verbal victory' boogie in the doorway and did some obnoxious winking and pointing into the bargain. Amanda just rolled her eyes at him and smiled.

"It doesn't mean any…" she began.

"Sure it does!" Presley tried to wiggle his eyebrows at his mom but failed and ended up looking like he had a really weird facial tick to both of their vast amusement.

"He is a colleague and I admire his intelligence and work ethic, that's all Buster," she shot back with a grin. Amanda rolled her shoulders to work out the kinks in her neck, "Besides, I think he's dating this gorgeous security consultant I've seen him with. In addition he's out in the field so I haven't seen him since he left. I'm his contact at the museum and he sends his finds to me. " She wanted to be out in the museum, overseeing the installation of the new exhibit. However, part of the problem of being in charge was, although you got to say what goes, you were also shackled down with paperwork at least half of the time. Amanda glared down at all of the paper work still laying on her desk, "What do you say we phone out for some pizza for dinner?" she asked standing up and putting her hands on her hips.

"We've had pizza three days running Mom, even teenage boys like a change of menu occasionally. I was actually coming in here to ask if you wanted something from the Rice Pot." Presley offered.

"It's kind of far away and they don't deliver Presley, we could get something a lot closer," Amanda reminded him.

"I know, but I want to pick up some stuff in Chinatown anyways and the Rice Pot has been your favorite restaurant ever since Mr. Chan first showed it to you, plus it's still a couple of hours until dark and I've got my phone. You've been working really hard and I'd like to do something nice for you ya know." Presley offered.

Amanda smiled. "Alright Presley, thanks," She walked over to him and hugged him. "Do you have the money," Presley nodded and held up a handful of bills; "I love you baby. I'll try to be done with most of this mess by the time you get back then Ok?"

"Sure thing Mom; see ya later and Mom…" Presley paused, "I love you too."

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Rath wanted him to pick up some type of dried and powdered caterpillars for a spell he was doing so Presley had decided to keep a bit vague on what exactly he needed from Chinatown. The Trolley-car screeched to a halt and the driver called out,"Grant Street." The entrance gate to Chinatown was located on this street at the southern side of Chinatown.The gate was adorned with sculptures of fish and dragons and flanked by two large lion statues it carried a quote by some guy named Dr. Sun Yat-sen saying, "All under heaven is for the good of the people." The gate had three passageways, a big one in the middle and smaller ones on either side. The pagoda style roofs were a green that reminded Presley of weathered copper except darker. Lampposts ornamented with colorful Chinese motives lined the street and even at a late hour tourists jostled for space on the narrow sidewalks outside the many souvenir shops, eateries and herbal shops. It smelled like sandalwood, ginger, herbs and fish. San Francisco's Chinatown was not only the oldest but also the most famous and largest 'china-town' in the US**.** Presley loved it here, his mom had taken him here to get candied ginger and see the Chinese New Year Celebration since he was a toddler. It looked kind of unreal this late with all the paper lanterns lit up and people still hustling around busily.

Presley maneuvered his way to the nearby street of Stockton with its streets lined with authentic Chinese food market stalls where the locals went to do their shopping. During the busy times of the day the streets would be crowded with throngs of people all carrying pink bags from the local vendors but now there were only a few Chinese housewives in pastel colored pantsuits browsing for good deals. Here he bought some candied ginger and some edible rice paper wrapped sweets. Armon would be thrilled and so oddly enough would Ja-kal. Rath and Nefer-Tina both preferred chocolate like his Mom did. Mom had found out about the Mummies just a few days before his thirteenth birthday; when he had ceased to be a 'boy' Pharaoh and Scarab lost his chance to take his reincarnated essence away from him permanently.

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Amanda Carnovan stood outside a sandstone building built in the shape of a mythical creature with a lion's body and a human head. She was going to do this she wasn't going to wimp out and just hope he would trust her eventually. She had a pistol in her purse if things got dangerous and Heavens help anybody caught hurting her baby. Amanda watched Presley take off his imitation Rapses amulet necklace and saw him use it as some kind of key to get in. Just how long had this been going on! How did they even get into this area of the building, all the access ways on the building schematics that she knew about had been built over! Finally Presley entered a room with four other people in it along with a TV.

"Hey Presley," said a bandage clad girl with white hair and an odd shirt. A second more penetrating look, then Amanda felt herself grow cold. This… grown woman wasn't wearing a shirt, just bandages crisscrossing her chest.

"Our Prince has returned once again," intoned a man she had often seen wearing a traditional men'sdashiki shirt, crisp trousers and a brimless cylindrical African style cap, all in emerald green. But now he was wearing some kind of skirt almost like the girls' and come to think about it so were the other two men! Ok so this was San Francisco and she had seen some unusual outfits and maybe shouldn't judge based on clothing… judging cause their wearing bandages worked just fine instead.

"Hello My Prince, "a dignified man with a kind smile on his face, but why had she never noticed that these people's faces looked so blue tinged? Maybe the florescent lights at the coffee house had caused them to look bleached out but she was definitely noticing now.

The largest bandage covered man with only one arm, like all the others was one she vaguely recognized, "Did you bring something to eat my Prince?"

"Hey Guys. Rath I think I need your help with my English assignment. Do you think you could quiz…Mom? What are you… how are you." Presley stepped in front of the others and said, "Mom I know I have been keeping secrets from you but I had a very good reason I swear…" Preston trailed off at the intense and disappointed look on his moms face.

"For so long I've known you were hiding something big from me. But I couldn't figure out what. I even tried talking to your friends in hopes that they might know. But they didn't know what was going on either. As the months passed I got more and more worried. It broke my heart you would come home covered in bruises sometimes even cuts. Finally today I couldn't take it anymore and I followed you." Amanda took a deep breath. "To my surprise you headed straight for the sphinx building at my museum. I saw you take off the necklace you said your Egyptian friends gave you and insert it in to a small hole in the sphinx wall. To further my shock a door opened in what I thought was a solid wall which is very suspicious. I quickly followed you before the door could close. I followed you down a set of winding stairs," she paused momentarily. "I'm actually surprised that you didn't notice me following you. Then I find myself in a huge room filled with all sorts of Ancient Egyptian artifacts along with people I recognize as working at the Java Spot cafe. Now I want to know what's going on, who are you people and what are you doing near my son." There was a long pause as the mummies and Presley exchanged looks.

Finally the bandage clad girl, after looking at the other mummies took Presley by the shoulders and said "Presley she is your mother maybe it is time you tell her everything."

Presley said, "I want to but how do I explain something like this. You won't believe me Mom, I just know it." Presley slowly sunk into a chair and looked at her like she was judging his soul guilty. Before Amanda could move to embrace her baby the dignified man with a kind smile put his arms around him saying, "My prince you do realize that we are here for you always. Like a herd of antelope we will move as one."

Amanda felt even more worried, "young man you just tell me everything, understood?" Presley looked at his mom just lost for word. Amanda bridged the few feet between them to kneel in front of the chair and grabbed his arms, "What is going on. Someone please explain what is going on."

The bandage clad girl with white hair took a deep breath and strode toward Amanda with an outreached hand, "My name is Nefer-Tina and we have a lot in common I think because we both want to keep Presley safe and happy with a lot of emphasize on the safe on our part."

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Presley stowed the candies away in his backpack and headed deeper into Chinatown. Scarab had attacked him at home on his birthday at midnight and had gotten a shock when his petite mother had shot his Shabti to pieces then put a bullet in his left knee. Harris Stone had spent the last three months he was alive dealing with being on trial for breaking and entering. His mom and the mummies (read Ja-kal) had come to an understanding and since then he usually spent from the time school got out till five thirty with his guardians and then home for super on school days and mornings with Mom until two then staying with the mummies till five thirty on weekends. It worked out pretty well.

His Mom and Rath loved debating various topics and his Mom had given Rath the key to her office and helped him purchase paper so Rath could build his library with her photocopier. Presley suspected that part of his Moms reason behind this was so that she could pry some of the older manuscripts away from Rath and get them into the Museum but since he wasn't an idiot he stayed out of their way when they were debating the topic of preservation verses use. Nefer-Tina and his Mom had hit it off fairly well once Nefer-Tina had told his Mom the story about her past. Every couple of months they had a girl's night. Presley stayed over at the Sphinx and they stayed at his house and watched chick-flicks, (his Mom had to explain the term to Nefer-Tina) did their nails and other weird girls stuff.

Armon called his Mom 'Wise Amanda,' No matter how much Presley poked at him he never said why but Presley didn't think his Mom really minded. Armon had taught his Mom some basic Egyp-tsu moves and to his shock his mom had learned how to throw a knife, well it was a letter opener but still it shocked his socks off the first time she did it. His Mom taught Armon to cook some of her signature dishes. Ja-kal was probably his Moms favorite mummy guardian because Ja-kal knew how fish and do man stuff and was super protective which really put his Mom at ease because she didn't have to worry about him not having a readily available father figure present in his life to look up to and set an example and stuff like that. Hey if it made his mom happy he wasn't going to argue with her. Plus he kinda liked fishing with Ja-kal. Presley yanked his mind back from the past and checked the street sign.

The Rice Pot was midway down one of Chinatowns many back alleys. The back alleys of Chinatown had over a century of history according to his mom and the history teachers in school. They were still mostly populated by immigrants from the Guangdong Province, the first of whom had come to America in the middle of the 1800's. It wasn't as much of a showy place as the streets right by the gates; people had lived here for a long time and still did and it showed in minor wear and tear around doorways and the rounded edges of the sidewalk. The Chung family had been here for only four generations. Lao-Lao Chung as she would tell anyone who asked what her name was to call her had been some kind of mail order bride right before World War Two and was still going strong and still made homemade sweet buns every day and Lao Ye or Mr. Chung, still worked the counter in the mornings. Presley didn't know what he did in the afternoons but Lao Lao sat in a corner behind the counter till closing time and knitted baby clothes, toys and blankets for her daughters' daughters' children that his mom loudly admired every time she came in to eat. His Mom was so nosy he thought fondly and she was determined to record Lao-Laos' life story or something; it was a good thing Lao-Lao Chung was just as nosy and interested in Amanda back. Since they had met they had become fast friends, bonding over children, crafts, civic mindedness and sweet buns.

Presley yanked the glass and steel door open hard so that the dangling bells attached to the top would jangle for a couple of extra seconds. Bells were cool. The place was empty, no one sitting at any of the card-table sized tables with their black hardback chairs clustered around them like hobos around a fire and there wasn't anyone at the counter either. It sounded too quite without the bells jingling. They didn't close until ten and the door had been open. "Is anyone here? The door's open and the lights are on are you guys still open? Hello? Is anybody in here?"

There was no answer for a moment and then a higher pitched female voice with the little waver common to the very elderly preceded its owner by several seconds; "Yes, Yes, I come now. Hello, Hello? Who is there please?" She was only a few inches shy of five feet tall but the neat white bun on top of her head makes her seem a little taller. She wore a crimson red tee with the Rice Pots logo of a bowl mounded with rice and a lotus blossom resting on top on the breast and her lips are tinted the same color. Presley knew from previous meetings that Lao-Lao Chung shared a passion for lip glosses with her young great-grandchildren and liked the same fruit flavored ones they did. Lao-Lao stepped up to the counter and grabbed one of the order pads and a pen from the pencil holder next to the cash register. "Duìbuq! Sorry! We very slow to… Presley! Hello to you. We have much very bad excitement here. A crime! Two children; they are taken by bad men who brake door into the alley and hit man who came in with little girl over the head. Everyone except me and my youngest grandson are still talking to police down at station," Lao-Lao paused, as she noticed Preston shift and narrow his eyes and with the wisdom growing old brings quickly guessed why. Lao-Loa laughed a little and hurried to explain, "Police want to know if we see anything; my family is not thought to be criminals. You are good boy to worry so."

"Do you want me to come back some other time, I mean I could umm get take out somewhere else or something? I mean if it's…um, just you…"

"Nonsense," Lao-Lao cried and testily slapped the counter in emphasis, "I work here since I come to America in this restaurant. I can make your order like that!" She loudly snapped her fingers and grabbed the waitress ordering pad out of the red plastic basket next to the old cash register and then pulled a purple gel pen out of her pocket.

Preston grinned at the feisty lady, "I wasn't trying to say you couldn't make it just that I didn't want to… cause any extra trouble. You sure you don't mind?" Lao-Lao gave him a patented 'young man you are trying my patience' look he recognized from both his mom and Rath; "Ok then, one small order of eggrolls, one small order of pork pot-stickers, um two medium orders of fried rice, a Lotus special, and an order of orange chicken. Oh and edema too, a large order please." He watched her scribble it all down and then peck at the cash register lightning quick.

"Order is twenty seven fifty. It takes little longer, maybe twenty minutes? You sit down and stay. Grandson! We have order!" Lao-Lao waved the waitress pad as she walked back into the back without waiting for him to pay. Presley dug out his dad's old wallet that he'd been given as his fifteenth birthday gift when his dad had realized it was his birthday again. He pulled out the money necessary and then stuffed it back into his pocket. His jaw clenched; he was _supposed _to have gone to Memphis to spend all three months of summer vacation with his father and his dad had flaked like always and it made him _burn_. It was hard to respect someone who lied and let you down pretty much every single time no matter how much you loved them.

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"Thanks Mrs. Chung," Presley said as hefted the large plastic bag Lao-Laos' grandson handed him before going back to the kitchen with a grin directed at him and his grandmas' fussing.

"Call me Lao-Lao, like my daughters children say, Presley, and give my best to your mother. I make her an afghan soon," Lao-Laos' wrinkled face beamed and she waved a delicate, almost skeletal hand at him as he backed out of the restaurant door.

I'll tell her Lao-Lao. See you late," Presley promised, smiling at the sweet old lady as he left and started to jog towards the trolley stop. The San Francisco _California Street_ line trolley only ran a couple more runs before sunset and the next one was due in about ten minutes he'd have to hustle. Presley set his skateboard and the bags down and started to reattach his helmet straps when he felt the back of his neck prickle like he was in danger. He watched as a white van pulled out of the last alley way of the street and two men jumped out of the sliding passenger door. They were wearing dark plain clothes, baseball hats and sunglasses and they were headed towards him. The man with brown hair showing underneath his blue baseball hat shot his thumb out in his direction. 'What could they possibly want with me? What makes me so damn high on bad guy kidnaping lists?' Presley growled internally. The brunette was bigger all around than the other man, who was blond and skinny. The blond headed guy looked less threatening but Rath was less threatening from a casual glance then Armon so he knew appearances were deceiving, still if they attacked he was hitting the blond first.

Presley slid his skate board around like he was testing the wheels until his back was against something hard, a store front. They definitely weren't Shabti but a lot of these guys behavior was the same, mostly the loitering around while keeping an eye on him type behavior. He pulled his backpack off and carefully wedged the food containers in and zipped it back up. He turned to look back and behind him, about 4 yards away in the nearly black alley, was a man. It was getting dark now so the only thing that he could see was an outline. He just stood there, unmoving which meant he was waiting for something, a sign maybe from the van goons?

Presley slowly rolled backwards. He took about five steps before he ran into something else. Presley turned around, fighting to keep the horror off his face. It was the other man! The man grabbed his arms. Presley didn't bother screaming, he'd need his breath to fight.

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Panting, gasping, Presley rounded several corners of the night streets, attempting to escape from the thugs, takeout food long since abandoned and skateboard broken over some goons head. Dripping with sweat, Presley ran faster, feeling the muscles in his legs tiring, yet he went on, knowing the results could be deadly if he doesn't escape. He gripped his amulet and brought it up to face level. He gasped into his amulet, calling for help to the mummies "Ja-kal! Nefer-Tina! Armon! Rath! HEL…" a large beefy hand suddenly covered his mouth, cutting off his words sharply. A sharp tug and a sting of pain lancing thru his neck signaled his connection to his Guardians being cut off as the man yanked on his medallion and broke the chain. He used an egyp-tsu move and wrestled out of his assailants grasp and started running leaving the man and his medallion behind. He could hear the sound of more feet joining his original captors. He swung around a corner sharply, and came face to face with the brick wall of a horrible looking alley. "Dead end alley," he muttered, "Time to..." Wham! The blow stunned him and sent him to his knees.

He was hyper aware of his whole body, how it ached and his arms and legs felt stiff, sore and filled with wet cement. He hurt everywhere. Completely drained of strength and his eyelids feel like they were made of lead; he can't even open them, nor did he want to try. However, as terrible as his body felt, nothing compared to the throbbing from his head. The sharp ache centered in the the back of his skull pulsed with his heartbeat and was almost unbearable. He tried to cry out for help… but lacked the strength for even that. Rough hands grabbed at him, then…Wham, a second blow registered painfully. In what felt like an agonizing eternity spent in darkness, he found himself spiralling into unconsciousness.

AN: I had trouble with the story flow


	5. A slender thread

We are about to see three resourceful children who are used to being threatened, kidnapped, and dealing with tough situations combine their resources and deal with this situation. You might notice that Harry seems a little quieter and subdued compared to Jade and Presley in the beginning. This is on purpose. Harry knows no one is coming for him and he has grown up without the support system the other two have had and he has had more people try to outright kill him too. He'll hit his stride later.

Chapter 5

The rumbling feeling was starting to wake him up. He could hear cars; cars going really fast; very close to him by the sound. Short scratchy carpet fibers were pressed firmly against his face. He felt so muzzy headed and his stomach was queasy. Was he sick? Was he in the school infirmary with Madam Pomfrey? No, the school wasn't near a highway and anyway he remembered with some effort it was summer. He should be with his relatives in Surrey. He wasn't with them though, because…

"Johnny, this one's starting to twitch, gimme the chloroform cloth," a loud male voice said in an accent that Harry couldn't quite place. He started to struggle, to try and wake up, but something heavy and damp with a sweet smell was being placed on his face and he couldn't quite fight the dizzying darkness sucking him back down into a black oblivion.

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Jade came out of unconsciousness slowly, with nausea roiling in her gut and a blinding headache. She could smell bleach, wool blankets, and a faint fishy smell in the cool moist air. There was the faint sound of cars and even softer the sound of someone or several someone's breathing. She squeezed her eyes tighter, felt a cool surface, cement maybe, on her cheeks. It was soothing to the pain in her head; enough so she could crack open her eyes to see. She pushed the scratchy, musky smelling wool blanket off of her face and arms. She could see dull gray walls, a metal door, and a tiny bared window thru which pale pre-dawn light was filtering from where she was laying.

Where was she? The thought was dull, out of focus and she struggled to fight off the clinging mental mists clouding her thoughts and bring them back into focus. She made herself sit up, almost afraid of what else she would see before she shook off that thought. She was a Chan and she was Jade Chan besides that, anything she couldn't handle her Uncles could. There were two other blanket covered mounds and they were too small to be Section 13 agents so she wasn't the only teenager here at least. What had happened? Who were these jerks? All she vaguely remembered was being grabbed and a pinprick of pain in her arm. Demons don't need to use drugs to kidnap people so at least that was something.

Think Jade, think! There was that seminar on kidnapping at section 13 and Mickey brought… crap the last she saw of Mickey he was laying on the floor of the restaurant bathroom. No Jade focus first one was something about not getting taken at all then…then regain your composure that's it. Calm down. "The sooner you can regain your composure the better off you will be immediately and in the long run," Jade quoted to her softly, that's what the handout Mickey brought back, had said. Mickey said that with her crazy Chan luck she might need to know about it. The next bullet point had been about being observant; try to observe and remember as much as possible in order to help you plan an escape, predict your abductor's next moves, or give information to the police to aid in a rescue or to help apprehend and convict the kidnapper. Gather information with all of your senses; hearing, touch, and smell. Pay attention to your abductors and everything they say, do and don't do so you can figure out what they want and why you were taken. Take in as much detail as possible about your surroundings. Where are the exits? Are there cameras in place, a lock on the door, or other security precautions? Try to figure out where you are, and gather information that may be helpful if you decide to escape. Jade bared her teeth at the door in a silent snarl; she would escape and she would make sure that whoever these idiots were they would regret taking Jade Chan.

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His mouth tasted like the way Ron's' dirty socks smelled, ughh so gross.

"Let me out! Who are you jerks? What's going on?" That was a girls' voice, young and angry; a trace of an accent, but not much of one, maybe oriental? What was going on? Why is the floor made of concrete, it's so cold!

"Ow, my head; what happened? Who's screaming?" Another voice, a younger male, disoriented with a local American accent.

"We've been kidnapped, well I've been kidnapped. I'm really just guessing since you guys were unconscious that you're in the same boat." Harry cracked his eyes open, wincing as light hit them. He saw dull gray concrete walls, a metal door with a doorknob on the inside, and a tiny bared window thru which thin morning light was coming thru. The light was making the nausea worse so he closed them tightly again.

"I sure didn't knock myself out so a pretty safe bet. Geeze I've got a knot the size of a golf ball back of my head." Crud, Harry was starting to get seriously nauseous and he felt so weak. He moaned and tried to get up but that just made the nausea worse. "Crap, if he throws up there's nothing here to catch it, not even a bucket," the male voice is saying now and he can hear a wuffle sort of sound and then someone is peeling back the scratchy blanket and putting their hand on his forehead. "It'll be okay buddy, breathe shallow and focus on my voice, okay?" The comforting hand on his head is moving, fingering thru his hair and pressing gently with its fingertips. "I'm going to take the blanket off you, Ok? Keep breathing shallow, and swallow it back. I'll try not to move you around too much. I just want to see if you've got anything broken or, or bleeding, okay?"

" I'mmm okay. 'Dah drugged mah," he can't quite keep from slurring his words. "They did'en hit me. It was on a cloth and they put it on my face, over my mouth and nose; smelled like sugar. I didn't realize they were after me till they grabbed me from behind in the loo," Harry shook his head a bit and when the nausea didn't surge up, inched his eyes open and pushed himself up into a sitting position.

Tan hands steadied him and he smiled a little hesitantly at the bronze haired teen with the snubbed nose that the hands were connected to. "Hey, where are you from? Your accent is kind of odd." said the boy asked, drawing back a little bit so they weren't as close.

Harry blinked, "Uh, Oh I, I'm from Surrey." At the blank looks the two were giving him he added, "in England. I flew in recently to visit a relative."

"Wait, they drugged one of you, with what sounds like chloroform to me, hit you, and knocked me out with a needle? Most criminals have only one method of abduction that their most comfy with. When did, um, what day did they take you guys?" their female jail mate is in fact oriental, with wide almond shaped eyes in a rounded face. She has colored the tips of her bangs in a bright orange and red combo that matches what she's wearing and Harry vaguely thinks that's cool. She's pointing at them and gesturing with her hands to punctuate her words, eyes wide and expressive.

"Well," the other boy said a little hesitantly, "first off I'm Presley. It was Friday and I was in Chinatown and it was around eight the last time I looked at my phone before I was attacked. I think I've only been out a few hours, cause the blood on my heads still a little wet and sticky."

"I was in Chinatown too, at around six on Friday," The girl gasped and turned her attention toward Harry.

Harry, with plenty of experience with a determined Hermione, had his answer ready. "Friday, almost six, same place, Chinatown. They caught me going into the restaurants loo. I think they'd followed me in and taken a table, they kept watching me and checking something that they were holding."

"Was it the Rice Pot? Cause I had just left there and I was headed to the bus stop to head back to where my Mom works when I noticed the goons who grabbed me," Presley asked.

"Yeah, I think… I think I remember seeing you there when I was there actually," Harry told the girl a little hesitantly. "You were there with a very tall red head. When they grabbed me I think I saw him trying to stop them for a minute before whatever was on the cloth worked. I didn't even get to eat, they grabbed me right after I ordered," he sighed.

Jade thought about what the kidnapping seminar worksheet said about fellow captives. 'If you are held with other captives, try to talk to them as much as is safely possible. If you look out for each other and have others to talk to, your captivity will be easier to handle. You may also be able to plan an effective escape together. Depending on the situation, communication may have to be covert, and if you're held for a long time you may develop codes and signals which would be cool but there weren't any cameras that she could see so it shouldn't be necessary. It also said to be careful talking to other captives, especially about escaping or classified information (such as Section 13 and Demon stuff). A fellow captive may be a tattletale, or one of the "captives" maybe a spy for your captors.' Her thoughts were interrupted by the quite voice of the British boy.

"Um, I'm Harry, I'd say nice to meet you both but under the circumstances. You said they hit you? Are you alright, I mean are you still bleeding and such," Harry asked a bit hesitantly, looking cautiously up at Presley from his position on the floor.

"I'm not sure if I'm still bleeding or not but I don't think so, just have a knot on the back of the head and the mother of all headaches," Presley gingerly poked the back of his head then looked around. "I'm not real comfortable with whoever this is kidnapping us leaving us here with just a wool blanket, we don't even have a bucket for a toilet; could mean they don't mean to keep us a long time or it could mean they don't plan to _keep_ us long. The longer we're here the more likely it is something bad might happen. We've got to get out of here."

"Most people who get kidnapped survive if it's not some sort of insane pervert who took them. As much as I want out we just don't know enough to make a plan that has a chance to work," Jade told them. "My name's Jade Chan, and my friend attended a seminar on kidnapping and brought me back the handout so I know some of the dos' and don'ts. We've got to keep calm, be aware and figure out what's going on and why we were taken before we decide anything else."

"Do you know someone named Jackie Chan?" Presley asked.

"That's my Uncle!" Jade told him, a bit surprised.

"My Moms name is Amanda Carnovan. She's the Museum Coordinator at the San Francisco Museum. Your Uncles' out on a dig right now, right?"

"That could totally be a connection right there maybe whoever is behind this is motivated by something to do with the dig or the museum… except I don' really think they took me on purpose. I went looking for Mickey, the red headed man you saw Harry, and saw them drag him into the bathroom to hide him and they caught me spying," Jade deflated with a huff.

"If we're going to talk about anything important we should post someone by the door to listen for someone coming," Harry interjected, untangling himself from the scratchy blanket, "and maybe we should try to look out that window up there and see if you or Presley can figure out where we are. Toss me your blankets and I'll fold them up for you, might as well be neat."

Harry didn't know how he deserved this; you don't grow up with the Dursleys without developing a finely tuned skepticism on human nature and fairness in general. But getting kidnapped from a bathroom in America while trying to contact your cousin you've never met so you can hopefully free your godfather and escape a nutty headmaster really made him wonder about that karma thing Parvati Patel had talked about. He must have mooned a deity or something in a past life to have such random bad luck.

"Good idea, give me a boost Presley and Harry can listen at the door," Jade said, stooping to grab the blanket and tossing it to Harry, pulling him out of his thoughts. Presley did the same and moved to stand underneath the window. "Right," Jade glared up at the tiny window, "how do you want to do this?"

Presley shrugged, knelt, and clasped his hands together to form a stirrup shape. "Put your foot in my hands and I'll give you a boost. Shouldn't be too hard, I'm almost twice as big as you are." Presley grunted once he had her levered up, "What does it look like?"

"It's a really bad angle; I can see another building right next door looks like an abandoned building, the alleyway doesn't have a lot of trash just some old crates. Can't see any sign of a street down either way. I think I can see the sun starting to rise it must be pretty early and that must be the west over there," She pointed. She shook her head, "you can put me down now there isn't much to see. Jackie is so going to flip when he finds out I've been kidnapped," Jade sighed.

"My Moms going to be super worried but it's some of my friends who are really going to flip, especially Jay. What about… what are you doing Harry?"

While they had been talking, Harry had knelt down by the cell door, inspecting the lock and thinking. 'If there's a key hole I can maybe pick the lock.' Harry thought, reassuring himself that his shoes were still on by wiggling his shoes. He tugged off his worn pair of trainers which had been miraculously left alone, and removed the flimsy sole to reveal a hollowed out place in the heel; he pulled out lock picks and began fiddling with the lock, twisting and turning the pieces of metal until a click echoed slightly in the now quiet room. Smiling proudly, Harry turned to the others to find them looking less pleased then he had thought they would be. Harry felt himself shrinking into himself a little as Jade shook her head. "It's good that we can get out but you should probably lock the cell again," Jade told him quietly, surprising Harry. Before he could say anything, she hurried to elaborated, "We can't let these people realize we can escape until we have a plan to get out of here." Nodding, Harry quickly teased the lock tumblers back into place and slipped the lock picks back into his shoes. Even if it had been ill-timed, at least they now knew he could get them out of the cell at any time; that was worth something.

"Sorry," he muttered softly.

"It's good to know we've got options," Presley told him with a smile. Then the smile weakened and faded away. "They'll have to feed us sometime. There's no way to get food in here without opening the door and maybe then we can get some answers."

"What sort of things did that kidnapping lesson say to do," Harry asked Jade hopefully.

"We have to stay positive and keep a survival attitude. Most kidnapping victims survive so the odds are on our side. The odds are against a short term stay here though so you guys should prepare yourself for a long captivity. Put our captor at ease by being calm and cooperative within reason for our captor. Don't make threats or become violent, and don't attempt to escape unless the time is right. Take it one day at a time. Keep our dignity. It is generally psychologically harder for a person to kill, rape, or otherwise harm a captive if the captive remains "human" in the captor's eyes. Do not grovel, beg, or become hysterical try not to even cry. Do not challenge your abductor, but show him or her that you are worthy of respect. If you can build some sort of bond with your captor, he or she will generally be more hesitant to harm you. Avoid insulting your abductor or talking about potentially sensitive subjects. No matter how pathetic and disgusting an individual our captor is we can't be rude. While captives in movies sometimes get away with saying such things, you should keep these thoughts to yourself," Jade listed.

"You were shouting at the door when I woke up and we're children so we already have a large strike on the whole worthy of respect by our captor thing," Harry pointed out skeptically.

"I was trying to get their attention and get some information," Jade insisted a little shamefaced.

Presley interceded before an argument could really get started, "being kids could work to our advantage by making them underestimate us. Tell us what else you can remember please."

"And what do you mean by _bond_? Cause that sounds weird," Harry asked undeterred by the quelling look Presley sent his way.

"Appeal to our captor's family feelings like telling him about our families and ask him or her about theirs. Be a good listener. Being a good listener can help you gather information that would be useful for an escape or to help police apprehend the abductor after you're freed. Care about what your captor has to say but don't start getting all Stockholm syndrome either. If you look out for each other and have others to talk to, your captivity will be easier to handle. You may also be able to plan an effective escape together. Depending on the situation, your communication may have to be covert, and if you're held for a long time you may develop codes and signals, which would be cool but since I can't see a camera probably doesn't apply," Jade explained.

"Keep track of time, and try to discern patterns. It can help you plan and execute an escape if you can detect patterns of when your abductor comes and goes and for how long he is gone. Stay mentally active. Think about what you'll do when you get back home. Hold conversations in your head with friends and loved ones. Doing these things consciously isn't crazy—it's keeping yourself sane but since we're all three here we could just talk to each other as well. Captivity can be boring and mind-numbing. It's important to challenge your mind so you can remain sane, but also so you can think rationally about escape. Do math problems, think of puzzles, try to recite poems you know; do whatever you can to keep yourself occupied and mentally sharp. Stay physically active if at all possible, it can be difficult to remain in shape in captivity, especially if you're restrained, but it's important to try. Being in good physical condition can aid in an escape and keep you in good spirits during your captivity. Exercise, even if it's just doing jumping jacks, pushups, or even pushing your hands together or stretching. Ask for small favors if you're settled in for a long captivity,

"I can't afford a long captivity," Harry muttered, rubbing a hand thru his messy hair and earning a shushing look from Jade and Presley.

"Keep requests small, at least initially, and space them far apart." Jade continued. "You can make your captivity more comfortable and make yourself more human to your captors. Blend in if you are held with other captives. don't stand out, especially not as a troublemaker. Watch out for warning signs. If they suddenly stop feeding you, if they treat you more harshly it can mean their making themselves think of you as less than human. If they suddenly seem desperate or frightened, or if other hostages are being released but your captors don't appear to intend to release you, be ready to make your best move. Be careful about what you tell abductors. If they're holding you for ransom or for political collateral, it's usually best if they think you're wealthy or important, even if you're not. If they abducted you to kill you in retaliation for some political action, however, you want to seem very unimportant and uninvolved,"

"I'm pretty sure we _are_ very unimportant and uninvolved and I don't know about you but I'm not a prince or a billionaire so where does that leave us?" Harry threw his hands up in the air as he finished.

Jade narrowed her eyes at him, and then felt them grow huge in realization. Harry sounded like Viper did when she tricked Jackie into telling her confidential information, dismissive and slightly taunting. "Are you…are you picking at me to get me to tell you more or something?" She asked, stunned.

Harry felt the sly smile that he usually wore after tricking Dudley slide onto his face, "Maybe just a little but the more holes that are poked into a plan the better the next plan we come up with will be; mostly your kind of funny when you start waving your hands around."

Jade rolled her eyes, and kept reciting everything she could remember that might possibly still apply. "Keep in mind that if you are recaptured after an initial escape attempt, you will very likely not get another chance to escape - make your escape count. Don't get your hopes up. A positive attitude is important, but if you get excited and then get let down, it will be hard to stay positive. If your captors begin to talk about your release, take it with a grain of salt. Don't set yourself up to be let down."

"Keeping all of that in mind, what's our plan," Presley asked poking the goose egg on the back of his head.

Jade hesitated, "I want to say have Harry open the door and just sneak away but we don't know where we are or how we're guarded."

"We don't have to plan an escape yet. In fact I agree that we don't have enough information. We do need to plan how to interact with our captors and what to share with them and if we can get a few things in here," Presley soothed.

"Like a bucket?" Harry asked archly, than shook his head. "They probably think that we're disoriented and weak right now. I say that we keep it simple and just sneak away. If we get caught we say that the door was unlocked when we tried it and we wanted to go home. We act young and…"

"We need information to make a good plan," Jade interrupted, frustrated between choosing a plan of action and trying to play it smart. Action was more her thing but she didn't want anyone getting hurt either.

"We're not going to get information in this cell!" Harry gestured around the room trying to keep his voice low.

An: I might redo this chapter or add more too it so if you have any ideas let me know.


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